We designed and fabricated the nanomechanical Pb(Zr
0.52Ti
0.48)O
3 (PZT) cantilever; we demonstrated a novel electrical measurement, under a controlled ambient temperature and humidity, for ...label-free detection of a prostate-specific antigen (PSA); and we achieved a detection sensitivity as low as 10
pg/ml. For the fabrication of our nanomechanical PZT cantilevers, we used composite layers of Ta/Pt/PZT/Pt/SiO
2 on a SiN
x
supporting layer for electrical self-sensing without external oscillators. This method allows PSA proteins to be detected via a simple electrical measurement of the resonant frequency change generated by the molecular interaction of the antigen (Ag) and the antibody (Ab). The resonant frequency shifted due to the specific binding of the PSA Ag to its Ab which is immobilized via calixcrown self-assembled monolayers on an Au surface deposited on a nanomechanical PZT cantilever. We determined the resonant frequency shift as the value of −172
Hz and −273
Hz, when the concentration of PSA Ag was 1
ng/ml, with the cantilever dimensions of 100
μm
×
300
μm and 50
μm
×
150
μm, respectively. Theoretical and experimental analysis suggests that the minimum detectable sensitivity for a resonant frequency shift due to a PSA Ag–Ab interaction depends on the dimensions of the nanomechanical PZT cantilever. These results also demonstrate that the experimentally measured resonant frequency shift is larger than that calculated theoretically due to the compressive stress of the PSA Ag–Ab interaction.
Mutations in a family with sequence similarity 83 member H (FAM83H) cause autosomal-dominant hypocalcification amelogenesis imperfecta (ADH CAI). All FAM83H ADHCAI-causing mutations terminate ...translation or shift the reading frame within the specific exon 5 segment that encodes from Ser287 to Glu694. Mutations near Glu694 cause a milder, more localized phenotype. We identified disease-causing FAM83H mutations in two families with ADHCAI: family 1 (g.3115C>T, c.1993 C>T, p.Q665X) and family 2 (g.3151C>T, c.2029 C>T, p.Q677X). We also tested the hypothesis that truncation mutations alter the intracellular localization of FAM83H. Wild-type FAM83H and p.E694X mutant FAM83H fused to green fluorescent protein (GFP) localized in the cytoplasm of HEK293T cells, but the mutant FAM83H proteins (p.R325X, p.W460X, and p.Q677X) fused to GFP localized mainly in the nucleus with slight expression in the cytoplasm. We conclude that nuclear targeting of the truncated FAM83H protein contributes to the severe, generalized enamel phenotype.
In this study, the nonlinear deflection of an infinite beam with variable beam cross-sections on a nonlinear elastic foundation was analyzed using the pseudo-parameter iteration method (PIM), which ...is a novel iterative semi-analytic method for solving ordinary/partial differential equations. To do this, we set six types of infinite beams with concave and convex shapes under static loading conditions. To calculate the nonlinear deflection of the infinite beam with variable cross-sections, the Bernoulli-Euler beam equation (fourth-order ordinary differential equation) considering changing beam flexural rigidity was introduced, and the PIM was adopted to this equation. Through the numerical experiment, it was confirmed that the nonlinear deflections calculated via the PIM are quite close to the exact solution within a few iterations. In addition, the graph of error quickly reaches the steady state error for all cases as the number of iterations increases.
ABSTRACT For all exoplanet candidates, the reliability of a claimed detection needs to be assessed through a careful study of systematic errors in the data to minimize the false positives rate. We ...present a method to investigate such systematics in microlensing data sets using the microlensing event OGLE-2013-BLG-0446 as a case study. The event was observed from multiple sites around the world and its high magnification (Amax ∼ 3000) allowed us to investigate the effects of terrestrial and annual parallax. Real-time modeling of the event while it was still ongoing suggested the presence of an extremely low-mass companion (∼3M⊕) to the lensing star, leading to substantial follow-up coverage of the light curve. We test and compare different models for the light curve and conclude that the data do not favor the planetary interpretation when systematic errors are taken into account.
1. The present study was conducted to develop Citrus junos probiotics (CJP), using by-products of Citrus junos fermented with multispecies probiotic bacteria including Saccharomyces cerevisiae, ...Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bacillus subtilis. The effects of dietary CJP on the growth performance, immune status, caecal microbiology and meat oxidative stability of broiler were investigated. 2. A total of 240 one-day-old Ross broiler chicks were used in a 35-d experiment in which the chicks were randomly allotted to one of the 4 dietary treatments (0, 5, 10 and 20 g CJP/kg diet) in a completely randomised design. 3. Dietary supplementation of 5 g/kg CJP significantly increased body weight, average daily gain and average daily feed intake of broiler during the overall experimental period. 4. Serum immunoglobulin (Ig)M concentration was significantly increased by 10 and 20 g/kg CJP, whereas the IgG and IgA concentration remained unaffected. In addition, 20 g/kg CJP significantly inhibited proliferation of Escherichia coli without affecting the concentration of Lactobacillus or Bacillus spp. 5. A significant reduction in the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances values of breast and thigh meat was observed in response to increasing concentration of dietary CJP. 6. Thus, the results suggest that CJP up to a concentration of 20 g/kg can be used in the diet of broilers to improve immunity and to reduce caecal E. coli and TBARS values of breast and thigh meat without any adverse effects on growth performance.
The pH is one of the most important parameters for producing hydrogen in biological processes. The major effect of low pH is the inhibition of the methanogenic activity in anaerobic biological ...processes for the production of hydrogen and, in general, it is considered that a pH below 5 can inhibit the methanogenic activity. In a semi-continuous reactor for the production of hydrogen, the pH was maintained at 4.5±0.2 by fixing the influent alkalinity to
1000
mg/
l
as CaCO
3. The primary fermentation product in this pH range was butyrate. The rate of hydrogen production stabilized at
35±5
ml/
g
Glu-day after 35 days. The yield efficiency of hydrogen was relatively low due to the methanogenic activity. The methanogenic activity originated from the hydrogen utilizing methanogen, and was inhibited by the addition of nitrate. At pH 4.3, the butyrate type of fermentation was changed to the butanol type and, simultaneously, the production of hydrogen stopped.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) occurs when neurons in the memory and cognition regions of the brain are accompanied by an accumulation of the long amyloid beta-proteins of the 39 to 43 amino acids derived ...from the amyloid precursor protein (APP) by cleavage with beta- and gamma-secretase. An increased production of Abeta-42 by mutation of PS2 genes promotes caspase expression and is associated with the Cox-2 found in the brain of AD patients. To address this question in vivo, we expressed the human mutant PS2 (hPS2m) (N141I) as well as wild PS2 (hPS2w) as a control in transgenic (Tg) mice under control of the neuron-specific enolase (NSE) promoter. Water maze tests were used to demonstrate the behavioral defect; dot blot, Western blot, and immunohistochemical analyses were performed on the brain with the hPS2, Abeta-42, caspase-3, and Cox-2 antibody. We concluded that 1) Tg mice showed a behavioral dysfunction in the water maze test, 2) levels of hPS2, Abeta-42, caspase-3, and Cox-2 expression were modulated in the brains of both Tg mice, 3) dense staining with antibody to hPS2, Abeta-42, caspase-3, and Cox-2 was visible in the brains of Tg mice compared with age-matched control mice, and 4) distinguishable AD phenotypes between hPS2w- and hPS2m-Tg mice did not appear. These results suggest that an elevation of Abeta-42 by overexpression of hPS2 and mutation of hPS2m might induce the behavioral deficit and caspase-3 and Cox-2 induction, which could be useful in the therapeutic testing of compounds to have considerable clinical effects.
The purpose of this randomised phase III trial was to evaluate whether the addition of simvastatin, a synthetic 3-hydroxy-3methyglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitor, to XELIRI/FOLFIRI chemotherapy ...regimens confers a clinical benefit to patients with previously treated metastatic colorectal cancer.
We undertook a double-blind, placebo-controlled phase III trial of 269 patients previously treated for metastatic colorectal cancer and enrolled in 5 centres in South Korea. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to one of the following groups: FOLFIRI/XELIRI plus simvastatin (40 mg) or FOLFIRI/XELIRI plus placebo. The FOLFIRI regimen consisted of irinotecan at 180 mg m(-2) as a 90-min infusion, leucovorin at 200 mg m(-2) as a 2-h infusion, and a bolus injection of 5-FU 400 mg m(-2) followed by a 46-h continuous infusion of 5-FU at 2400 mg m(-2). The XELIRI regimen consisted of irinotecan at 250 mg m(-2) as a 90-min infusion with capecitabine 1000 mg m(-2) twice daily for 14 days. The primary end point was progression-free survival (PFS). Secondary end points included response rate, duration of response, overall survival (OS), time to progression, and toxicity.
Between April 2010 and July 2013, 269 patients were enrolled and assigned to treatment groups (134 simvastatin, 135 placebo). The median PFS was 5.9 months (95% CI, 4.5-7.3) in the XELIRI/FOLFIRI plus simvastatin group and 7.0 months (95% CI, 5.4-8.6) in the XELIRI/FOLFIRI plus placebo group (P=0.937). No significant difference was observed between the two groups with respect to OS (median, 15.9 months (simvastatin) vs 19.9 months (placebo), P=0.826). Grade⩾3 nausea and anorexia were noted slightly more often in patients in the simvastatin arm compared with with the placebo arm (4.5% vs 0.7%, 3.0% vs 0%, respectively).
The addition of 40 mg simvastatin to the XELIRI/FOLFIRI regimens did not improve PFS in patients with previously treated metastatic colorectal cancer nor did it increase toxicity.
We propose a new image cryptosystem to protect image data. It encrypts the original image into another virtual image. Since both original and virtual images are significant, our new cryptosystem can ...confuse illegal users. Besides the camouflage, this new cryptosystem has three other benefits. First, our cryptosystem is secure even if the illegal users know that our virtual image is a camouflage. Second, this cryptosystem can compress image data. Finally, our method is more efficient than a method that encrypts the entire image directly.
We report on the design and fabrication of a novel wideband superluminescent diode (SLD) based on InGaAs/GaAs quantum-dot structure. In this device, we monolithically integrate a photon absorber ...section to suppress lasing action and optical feedback oscillation. The fabricated SLDs produce a close-to-Gaussian shaped spectrum centered at 1210 nm with a bandwidth of 135 nm. Spectral ripple as low as 0.3 dB has been measured
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